Alex Hartley wrote on Twitter it was "nice of the England boys" to finish their Test in India before England Women played in New Zealand; men's players Rory Burns and Ben Duckett were not impressed with the bowler's comments; England's men lost by 10 wickets inside two days in Ahmedabad
Friday 26 February 2021 09:07, UK
Players from England's men's and women's cricket teams have had a public disagreement after a tweet from Alex Hartley about Joe Root's side's loss in India on Thursday.
England's men were beaten by 10 wickets in Ahmedabad in the third Test of their series against India, with the match lasting less than two days.
England could score only 112 and 81 during their two innings on a challenging pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium, meaning the Test was over before the women's team began their ODI against New Zealand in Dunedin.
That prompted Hartley, who is not part of the squad playing in New Zealand, to tweet: "Nice of the England boys to get this Test match finished just before England Women play tonight."
The 27-year-old bowler's words did not go down well with Rory Burns, who is part of the men's squad in India but did not play this week.
The opening batsman responded to Hartley on Twitter, saying: "Very disappointing attitude considering all the "boys" do to support the women's game."
Burns later deleted his tweet.
Burns' fellow batsman Ben Duckett, who played four Tests for England in 2016, also weighed in, calling Hartley's comments "average".
Hartley attempting to cool the misunderstanding, later saying: "Think it's been taken the wrong way/out of context. No offence was meant. We are all Test match fans."
While England's men toiled in India, England's women won in New Zealand, seeing off the hosts in a seven-wicket victory to wrap up the series.
England chased down New Zealand's score of 192 inside 38 overs, with Tammy Beaumont top-scoring with 72 not out off 112 balls and Nat Sciver scoring 63 from 61 balls having earlier taken three wickets.
Asked about Hartley's tweet, Sciver said: "I didn't see the tweet but I did hear about it from some of the girls.
"Maybe it wasn't the best timing - if we had lost a Test match in two days I would have been pretty mad - but that's Twitter for you."
